Swimming for Total Fitness: A Complete Program for Swimming Stronger, Faster, and Better [Paperback]

Jane Katz (Author), Nancy P. Bruning (Author), Phillip Jones (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1993

Swimming is one of the best, most enjoyable, and most effective forms of exercise available, and this is the classic guide for beginners and expert swimmers alike, completely revised and updated for the '90s.



B & W line drawings throughout.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Katz, an accomplished swimmer and educator, offers this update of her 1981 book of the same title ( LJ 3/15/81). She presents a graduated program to learning the basics of swimming, beginning with lessons for novice, intermediate, and advanced swimmers and progressing to demanding super workouts for the competitive swimmer. Within each level are ten detailed sublevels, plus variations, warm-ups and cool-downs, advice on physical problems, equipment, racing, and fitness. The treatment is comprehensive, clear, and detailed, though it could have benefited from more illustrations or photographs. Katz's book offers better coverage than Marianne Brems's Swim for Fitness (Chronicle, 1979), or Katherine Vaz and Chip Zempel's Swim Swim: A Complete Handbook for Fitness Swimmers ( LJ 5/1/86). This is essential for all public and academic library sports collections.
- Sandra Math, St. John's Univ. Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Dr. Jane Katz is an aquatic authority one should pay attention to. We all cannot have Dr. Katz to teach us on a regular basis, but we can keep this book close by.”

--John A. Butterfield, former Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books; Upd Sub edition (April 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385468210
• ISBN-13: 978-0385468213
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.8 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #749,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 20 years ago it might have been a good book, December 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Swimming for Total Fitness: A Complete Program for Swimming Stronger, Faster, and Better (Paperback)

This book might be helpful for very beginning swimmers to get started by learning about how to move in the water. But if you feel already confident holding yourself at the surface, I would not recommend buying this book. It teaches outdated technique, which makes your swimming unnecessarily slow and power-consuming. When I learned to swim 15 years ago the techniques and drills she teaches were already outdated, especially in the freestyle! The section on the turns are well written, but compared to recent articles in magazines like "Swimmer" the explanations are too complicated and confusing. Spend your money on books and videos by Emmett Hines or Terry Laughlin, it well get you the most rewarding experience.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT book for anyone!, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Swimming for Total Fitness: A Complete Program for Swimming Stronger, Faster, and Better (Paperback)

I wanted to begin a swimming program but didn't know where to start--this book was definately the right place! The book takes you lesson by lesson in a very motivating and nonthreatening way. It covers everything from the very basics to indepth information on technique for the more advanced. It is easy to read and understand, but is also comprehensive in the information it covers. Not only does Jane Katz teach you to swim, but she then includes a series of workouts for the beginner, intermediate, advanced, and master. This book is the only one you need. I highly recommend it!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great inspiration - - discover the joy of the sport!, January 20, 2003

By 

Lisa Herger (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swimming for Total Fitness: A Complete Program for Swimming Stronger, Faster, and Better (Paperback)

I bought this because I wanted a better understanding of swimming as a sport. I had learned the skill of swimming like most people do in their youth, but since I wasn't very interested in or good at sports my learning stopped as soon as lessons did. In adulthood I rediscovered the joy of swimming and I wondered how I could develop more sophisticated skills. I also wondered how "real" swimmers think and feel about their sport and how they go about their training: what challenges them, what kind of routines do they use.
This book was perfect for me. The author began with the absolute fundamentals of having a relationship to the water and went on to suggest basic routines for the beginner like me. She then took her descriptions to routines for those on the advanced competitive level. I liked being able to see where a more talented person could and would go which is in itself very interesting even though I'll never reach that level; this insight puts my own beinning work into perspective.
After reading this book I was inspired to swim and continue improving my routines. I would never need another book on this subject after this one, it's that all-encompassing for the amateur.